Hi Ryan, don't reply to this until after the relaunch, so tomorrow will be fine.

Would you consider printing a few child sizes next year on a preorder subscription so you don't get lumbered with left overs. My children both want the reaper in red but I have told them it is not possible as that even the small size would be huge on them. I think there are quite a few minions on here with children who might add to the order or do you have to order a certain amount of each size? I'm sure that this topic has been raised before but couldn't find it.

My daughter is particularly miffed. She loved the owl design last year but couldn't have it, loves the reaper design but can't have it and to make matters worse her brother now fits into her old bad seed T shirt.

nosferatu wrote:Hi Ryan, don't reply to this until after the relaunch, so tomorrow will be fine.

Hey, how did you know? Well, I guess there were only so many days left in the promised September.

I appreciate your idea and interest in kid-friendly sizes. One thing I've realized about specialty styles and sizes, (outside of the standard "unisex") is that I don't sell very many. Last year I did a womens cut shirt and still have a good portion of them left. Similarly, when I made kids shirts, they took a long time to sell out.

So pre-order would be a good way to do it, so I'm not stuck with inventory, as you pointed out. But let me ask this... most of my shirts feature that year's mascot and logo, and it's tradition to keep that a surprise until everything is ready. So how could I ask people to pre-order if they haven't even seen the shirt design yet?

Zombie Pumpkins! wrote:
So pre-order would be a good way to do it, so I'm not stuck with inventory, as you pointed out. But let me ask this... most of my shirts feature that year's mascot and logo, and it's tradition to keep that a surprise until everything is ready. So how could I ask people to pre-order if they haven't even seen the shirt design yet?

I would order two "unseen" and pay you in advance.. When my children see me with a ZP! Shirt on they want one. Mainly because they want to look cool. Halloween shirts for kids over here may have a black cat, a one dimensional witch or a simple ghost. Your shirts stand out - even my wife wears her purple one from time to time - now that's an endorsement. They never want anything that I wear. My daughter is 8 and she is already embarrassed by dress sense....or lack of it but she would love a mascot tee.

It's not as if you are likely to produce something that would contain swear words or be grossly offensive after all. Or is it?

Nos, I appreciate your faith in my designs, sight unseen. Even if I took pre-orders on an upcoming mystery shirt, I wouldn't force anyone to go through with the purchase if they ultimately didn't like the shirts that I came up with. If you wanted to cancel an order for a shirt after seeing the design, I'm sure I could find someone else to buy it eventually.

Zombie Pumpkins! wrote:
So pre-order would be a good way to do it, so I'm not stuck with inventory, as you pointed out. But let me ask this... most of my shirts feature that year's mascot and logo, and it's tradition to keep that a surprise until everything is ready. So how could I ask people to pre-order if they haven't even seen the shirt design yet?

What if you used patterns like Night Owl on the children's shirts instead of the mascot? Then you could sell them from year to year and they won't be outdated when you release the new site. Also, if you kept the number of shirts very low, say 30 or so, you wouldn't be sitting on much inventory, if any.

Killed by Death wrote:What if you used patterns like Night Owl on the children's shirts instead of the mascot? Then you could sell them from year to year and they won't be outdated when you release the new site. Also, if you kept the number of shirts very low, say 30 or so, you wouldn't be sitting on much inventory, if any.

I really like this idea. I could indeed use patterns as the kid's shirt designs (or maybe unique designs specifically for kids). Those can be shown around the start of summer, maybe. And pre-orders could be taken, so the right number can be printed and shipped in time for Halloween. Might be a good way to go!

The site doesn't get as much traffic until October though, so if I do pre-orders for a few months ahead of time, not a ton of people would know about it. I'm sure I'd get emails in October from people who are disappointed that they missed the pre-order phase, and now there aren't enough extras for what they want.

Can't win 'em all though. At least the the most loyal fans who are paying attention will be able to pre-order whatever they want and trust that they'll get it.